Being Different
by PygmyCritter
Summary: Jessica Bowden is taking care of her younger brother, Jimmy after their parent's death.Things at his school are getting worse by the minute and Jess is desperate to find a new school for her brother before he fries one of his classmates.I suck w summeries
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first try at an X-Men fanfic, so any ideas and/or criticism, feel free to let me know. The first chapter or two will be setting up Jess and Jimmy's characters.**

Jessica Bowden tossed her keys onto the small table just inside the front door of her tiny apartment. Cozy. That was how the realtor who had shown it to her had described it. Jess knew right away what that meant, any idiot would. But, it was all she could afford. So, now she slept in the shoe box sized bedroom and her younger brother, Jimmy, slept on the pull-out sofa in the cramped living room. It had been that way for about a year now.

Things had been better. Jess and Jimmy had been living in a nice townhouse with Jess's husband, Nick. Jimmy even had his own room! But, after the death of their young daughter, Jess and Nick found it too hard to cope with both the stress of that great loss, married life, bills, and nosy in-laws poking their noses in where they didn't belong. And so, less than a year after little Brooke's death, the couple went their separate ways. Nick moved to Boston to run a small restaurant with his brother, and Jess had become a CNA and had moved to this minuscules apartment with her brother.

Jimmy and Jess had it tough the last few years. Brooke was not the only loss. Jimmy and Jessica's parents had died in a car accident about six months before Jess had lost her daughter. As if things could have gotten any worse by that time, Jimmy began to realize he was...different from the other kids his age. It's hard enough for a thirteen year old boy to feel as though he belongs, but when you start being able to set things on fire just by touching them, things become a whole lot more awkward. Most of his friends were told to stay away from Jimmy by their parents, others turned on him and called him things like 'freak' or 'weirdo', and not in a funny ha-ha, teasing kind of way. Only a few stood by Jimmy and continued to be friends with him. Jess was glad that her brother had friends like that, since when she found out that she was a mutant, none of her friends would have anything to do with her. Seeing Jessica be hit by a truck, and they all assumed killed, considering how she looked like roadkill, was shocking and upsetting enough to her friends. It was even worse, and really bizarre to see Jessica walk into school the following Monday as though nothing had ever happened.

"Jimmy!" Jess called as she leafed through the mail she had picked up on her way in. Bills. As usual. Joy! "Jimmy!" she called again as she set the bills down on the kitchen counter and opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of juice. "Are you going to answer me?" she asked as she took a drink. She sighed as she knocked on the closed bathroom door. "Jimmy."

"What?" her brother answered from the front door.

"Oh, there you are." Jess laughed. "I thought you were ignoring me." she explained.

"Nope." the sixteen year old mumbled, making sure to keep his baseball cap on and his head down as he walked past his sister.

"Jimmy." Jess said, grabbing his wrist as he went to move by. "Take off your hat."

"There." he said as he whipped the hat off, making sure still to not look at her.

"Okay, great." she replied. "Now look at me."

"Why?"

"Because you're hiding something." Jess said as she walked and stood in front of him and lifted his chin. "Another fight? Who with this time?"

"It doesn't matter." Jimmy grumbled, freeing his wrist from her small hand and flopped down onto the couch.

"Yeah, it does." she argued. "If you tell me who did it..."

"Then I can be not only a freak, but a loser who needs his sister to run to the rescue when things go bad!" he snapped.

"Well, it's not like you're going to have your twelve year old sister rescuing you." she laugh but stopped when she saw the look her brother gave her.

"These guys go around saying so much crap!" Jimmy continued, thankful his sister stopped trying to lighten the mood with a lame try at a joke. "If I said any of what they say to me to a black student, or an Asian one, or anyone, they'd kick me out so fast!"

"I know." Jess said as she sat down next to him and put her feet up on the coffee table.

"It's not like we asked to be different from everyone else." Jimmy went on, picking at a loose string on the throw blanket that was draped over the arm of the couch. "I mean, who would want to set things on fire with a touch?"

"A pyromaniac, or someone who has no matches or lighter." Jess offered. "Sorry." she said quickly. "Mouth running ahead of brain again."

"I could just not go to school anymore." Jimmy said hopefully. "That would solve the problem."

"How do you figure?" Jess asked as she looked at him. "You're still gonna have to deal with idiots, school or no school. And you need to graduate, so we're gonna have to figure out a way to deal with things now."

"C'mon, Jess." Jimmy groaned.

"Just bear with me, kiddo." Jess said. "I will figure out a way to help you without making you look like some sort of wimp. Okay?"

"Whatever." he replied, picking up the remote and turning on the TV.

"No more fights?" she asked.

"It's not like I go out and look for them you know." Jimmy answered.

"I know." Jess nodded "Just try to be careful." she stood up.

"Sure." he shrugged as he began to become totally absorbed in the bikini clad girls on the TV.

"Thanks." Jess rolled her eyes. "I'll grab a towel and stick it under your chin, try to keep the couch dry."

"Okay." Jimmy replied absently.

"Dinner?" Jess asked as she picked up the take-out menus from next to the phone.

"Yes." was the mumbled reply.

"Okay, I'll choose." Jess said as she selected the menu for the Chinese take-out down the street. "Please, don't get up, I'll take care of everything."

"Yeah."

Jess sighed and headed into her bedroom to make the call, away from the blaring music from the TV. She needed to do something about Jimmy. He was getting into more and more fights. Something had to be done before her brother decided to barbecue one of his classmates.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: The next chapter will have our favorite mutants. Just needed Jess to reach her breaking point to get to the school. R&R please!**

* * *

"A school in upstate New York." a thin, balding man said as he slid over a piece of paper to Jessica. "It's a school just for mutants." he explained, keeping his voice low.

"Thanks." Jess said, staring down at the paper. "How did you hear about this place?"

"A friend." the man shrugged.

"I wonder how Jimmy will react when I mention this to him." Jess nervously bit her lip. "I don't suppose you wanna tell him, Mark?" she smiled.

"Not a chance." the man named Mark laughed. "If he gets angry about, it's not gonna be me who ends up looking like a piece of burnt bacon."

"So, better that it's me that happens to?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pretty much, yeah." he nodded with a smile.

"Hold on." Jess said as her cellphone began to ring.

"Who is it?" Mark asked as he took a sip of his iced tea.

"Not a clue." she replied. "I don't recognize the number." She flipped open the phone and answered.

Mark watched Jessica's expression change from one of worry, to one of anger and could not help but wonder who was on the other end.

"He stole a car!" Jess said as she stuffed her phone into her purse and got to her feet.

"What?" Mark said, getting to his feet as well.

"Jimmy." Jess said as she tossed some money on the table and headed for the door. "He stole a car. He stole a freaking car!"

"Just calm down, Jess." Mark pleaded as he steered the angry woman to his car.

"Calm down?" she yelled as she buckled her seatbelt. "My brother just stole a car and is at the police station!"

"Yeah, it's bad, but you know it's not gonna do you any good to go into the police station to talk to Jimmy when you're this upset."

"I'm gonna kill him." Jess said, taking a deep breath. "Not at the police station...too many witnesses..."

"Jess...." Mark sighed as he navigated his car along the street, stopping suddenly as a car back out without warning.

"He's never done anything like this." Jess said, more to herself than to her companion. "What if they take him away from me?"

"Hey, come on now, Jess, they wouldn't do that." Mark replied. "You're doing a good job with him."

"Am I?" she asked as she slid down in the passenger seat. "He's been getting into fights, he's skipped school a lot lately, and now he's stolen a car!"

"The fights have been more self-defense then anything, every kid skips school now and then, I did, you did, and we don't know about this car thing yet."

"Please don't let them take him away." Jess sighed as she stared out the window, seeing the police station just up ahead.

"Positive thinking." Mark said as he put the car in park and opened his door.

"Yeah, sure." Jess said as they walked in. "I got a call about my brother." she told an officer at the front desk. "James Ronson."

"This way." the gray-haired officer nodded as he led them through a door and down a hall.

"Oh God." Jimmy groaned when he saw his sister.

"You stole a car?" she asked as she walked up to him.

"It was a small one." he replied in a way that made it seem that should excuse everything.

"What?" Jess asked. "It was a small car? What does the size of the car have to do with anything?"

"I guess when they say "grand theft auto" the grand part refers to the size of the car." Mark remarked as he looked around the small room they had been led to, two small windows high up the wall. "Oddly enough, though, I've never heard of "economy-sized theft auto", but I don't read the police blotter much."

"Shut up." Jimmy groaned.

"Watch it." Jess warned.

"It's no big deal." Jimmy argued. "It's a small car, and no charges are gonna be filed."

"The size of the car does not matter!" Jess hissed. "And how do you know no charges...."

"It was Dave's car." Jimmy explained.

Dave was a guy who lived in the building where Jess had lived with her husband. He had a crush on Jess and hung around, despite knowing full well she was married. The little creep even seemed happy when he heard that Jess and Nick were divorcing.

"Dave's car?" Jess asked as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Yeah. I'm not stupid." Jimmy said, ignoring the look his sister's friend gave him. "If I'm gonna steal a car, of course it's gonna be from someone I know won't do anything about it."

"You were arrested." Jess pointed out. "And I would really appreciate you using these smarts for something good!"

"Yeah, he didn't know it was me who'd taken it." her brother smiled. "He's here. When he heard who it was who was picked up in his car, he decided not to press charges." he added, ignoring her last comment.

"You still think I'm doing a good job, Mark?" Jess asked.

"No comment." he said as he went to stand in a corner.

"Do you hate living with me that much?" Jess asked, feeling tears as she spoke. "If you keep this up, they'll take you from me. You'll end up living with some relative we haven't seen in years, or worse yet, you'll end up in some home!"

"You're making too big a deal outta this." Jimmy said as he sat back in one of the chairs in the room and crossed his arms.

"We're going to go visit a school in upstate New York." Jess said, deciding that she would not discuss the issue with her brother. "That is if they don't take you because I'm so incompetent I can't keep you out of trouble for five freaking minutes."

"What kind of school?" Jimmy asked, already knowing in his mind that no matter what school he went to, things wouldn't change. "And why in New York?"

"Because that's where it is." Jess said as she took a seat in a chair next to her brother. "It's a school for mutants. No one is going to bother you for being one there."

"No matter what school you go to, people will always hassle other people." Jimmy said dismissively. "I don't want to go."

"I didn't ask you, I'm telling you." Jess shrugged, hating the idea of being so bossy and controlling. "I promised that I would do something, and I guess this is gonna be it."

"Whatever." Jimmy said, turning away from his sister. She didn't want him, he thought. That was it. She was still young, only twenty-six. She didn't want to be stuck taking care of a sixteen year old. Easier to send him away and claim it was for his own good. He knew that she just wanted to get rid of him. And in another state at that. She must really be eager to get rid of you!


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, what do you think?" Professor Xavier asked as he strolled along with Jess and Jimmy, Jean and Storm following close behind. "Do you feel this is the right place for you, James?"

"It seems okay." Jimmy shrugged. He didn't want to admit it, but this school did seem pretty good. He felt like he could fit in there, and since everyone else was a mutant, even the teachers, no one could single him out for that. It was almost good enough to make him forget the feeling of abandonment he got when Jess mentioned their trip to the school.

"It's beautiful." Jess replied. "The building, and the grounds.." she looked around, and then looked down at the man beside her. "I'm a little worried about how much this would cost though.."

"I did not open this school to make money, Mrs. Bowden." Xavier answered with a smile. "I opened this school so that mutant children could get a good education without having to worry about the bullying and torment they would find in a public school."

"I wish I'd known about this place when I was in high school." Jess laughed nervously.

0This all seemed too good to be true. A seemingly great school, friendly staff and not having to worry about paying out more in tuition than she made in six months? There had to be something...

"The dorms." Jimmy mumbled as a pretty blond girl walked by, smiling at him.

"Separate boys and girls dorms." Xavier chuckled. "Strictly monitored."

"I'd hope so." Jess said, sending a sharp jab into her brother's side as he continued to look after the girl. "Close your mouth before flies go in." she whispered. I'm starting to sound like grandma, she thought to herself.

"Jean and Storm are in charge of the girl's dormitories, and Scott and Logan are in charge of the boy's." Xavier explained.

"They're both trustworthy." Jean assured Jess, able to read the look of concern on the woman's face. If they didn't even show up to a meeting with a potential new student, how much attention did they pay to what went on in the dorms?

"They're coming." Xavier said. "You can meet them both and then I'm sure you'll be a bit more at ease."

"All I'm saying is that if you're going to take the bike, each time without ever asking I might add, the least you could do is make sure you've replaced the gas you used." Scott Summers said as he briskly walked along, a half-laughing Logan close behind.

"I didn't realize you couldn't read a fuel gauge." Logan responded. "The 'E' means empty, the 'F' means full...there are little lines in between..."

"Good morning, gentlemen." Xavier said, fixing them with the stern look a father might give to bickering children that almost read _"Keep it up and I'm turning this car around!"_He waited for the two men to be quiet before going on. "I would like you to meet Mr. Ronson and his sister Mrs. Bowden." he looked to the brother and sister. "This is Scott Summers, and Logan."

"Logan?" Jess asked. "No last name? Kinda like Cher?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Logan nodded. "Just without the giant, feathery headgear."

"I hope that's not the only thing in her wardrobe you go without." Jess laughed as she held her hand out and shook each man's hand.

"So, you're the new student?" Scott asked Jimmy.

"I guess so." Jimmy shrugged, looking around at what he could only assume would be his new home.

"Yes." Jess nodded as she looked at her brother. "He is. If the professor will have him, that is."

"I see no reason why not." Xavier smiled.

"Great." Jess said nervously, feeling a mixture of relief and sadness well up within her.

"Yeah." Jimmy said distractedly as the blond girl made another pass by. "I think I'm gonna go try to meet some people...." he mumbled as he headed off in the direction of the girl.

"Jimmy!" Jess called after the boy.

"It's quite alright, Mrs. Bowden." Xavier laughed. "That is a good sign I think."

"That he'll ignore all of us to chase after some girl he doesn't even know the name of?" Jess asked. "True. Very normal of a hormonal teen-aged boy."

"Is there any other family that we should keep up to date on James' progress?" Xavier asked as he began to move his chair along again. "Will your husband be joining you on your next trip?"

"No, we're divorced." Jess answered. "And other than some cousins we haven't spoken to in about ten years, there's no one else but us."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Xavier replied.

"Is there anything vital that we should know about him?" Jean asked as she walked along beside Scott. "I think I heard something about a stolen car."

"I don't know where that one came from." Jess sighed. "His reason for doing it, not you hearing about it." she said, clearing up what she thought might be confusing.

"And setting a teacher on fire?" Storm asked.

"That wasn't his fault!" Jess quickly replied. "He studied really hard for this math test, he passed, doing really well for him in math, and the teacher accused him of cheating." she explained quickly, speaking so fast the others had some trouble keeping up with the flow of words. "Jimmy said he didn't, that he studied a lot, the teacher called him a liar, and Jimmy got upset, and when that happens, he doesn't have very good control of his powers..and that's how it set the teacher's pants on fire."

Logan tried to hold back his laughter as he pictured the scene. The others gave him a look that said they didn't find it too amusing and Jess, oblivious to it all as she continued to defend her brother, went on.

"That's another reason I thought this might be a good place for him." she slowed her speaking so that she was easier to follow. "To learn how to control his power no matter what his mood might be."

"I agree." was Xavier's simple reply.

"I know you must be nervous about all of this." Storm said to Jess. "But don't worry, your brother will be very well taken care of here."

"I hope so." Jess smiled nervously. "I figured things can't be any worse then they were at his old school."

If only Jess knew what was to come.


	4. Chapter 4

Jess could hear her home phone ringing as she struggled to unlock the door to her apartment. "Hold on!" she called as the grocery bag that hung from her wrist swung up against the door. "Stupid door." she grunted as she shoved the door and stumbled into the apartment. "Hello?" she answered breathlessly as she finally reached the phone. Looking at her watch she saw that it was just after 8 pm and didn't know who might be calling her home phone at that hour.

"Jessica Bowden?" the voice on the other end inquired.

"Yes, this is she." she replied as she freed her wrist from the bag that had twisted itself and started cutting off circulation.

"This is Jean Grey, from Xavier's..."

"Is Jimmy okay?" Jess asked as she dropped the bag onto the floor, the large can of tomato sauce landing on her toe.

"He's fine. It's just that he's had some trouble the last couple of days." Jean replied. "He's having some trouble making the adjustment I'm afraid."

It had been a month since Jess had made the trip out east to see the school and she was hoping that his problems would be behind them. She knew it would be a big adjustment for him, being so far from home, his sister and the few friends he had left, but she was hoping being in a healthier environment, the transition would be easier on him.

"Fights?" she asked as she hobbled to the sofa and sat down to remove her shoe to inspect her battered toe. "He hasn't stolen any cars has he?"

"It's mostly academic." the woman on the other end explained patiently. "And a few behavioral problems as well. No fights or stolen cars though." she assured her.

"Okay, what do you need me to do?" she asked.

"I think he needs you." Jean replied.

"I talk to him on the phone every night, I text him through out the day..." Jess said, feeling almost defensive as the other woman spoke. She had been feeling guilty about sending her brother so far away, but she knew that it what was best for him. To make sure he was safe and that those around him were safe, they both had to make sacrifices. If he had needed her, why hadn't he told her any of the numerous times they'd spoken over the last month?

"I know." Jess could picture Jean nodded as she spoke. "I don't suppose there is any way you could come back here to visit with him, try to calm him a bit?"

"I have some money saved up." Jess grabbed her most recent bank statement and looked over it. "The biggest thing is getting some time off work. But, I'll make sure I get it."

"Give me a call and let me know when you've got things sorted and we'll have a room ready for you to stay in here." Jean sighed with relief. She really did feel that having his sister around would calm the boy's nerves.

"Can we not say anything about my coming out until I'm guaranteed the time off?" Jess asked. "I don't want to get his hopes up in case my boss decides to be an ass." she gave a half-hearted laugh.

"That's no problem." Jean agreed. "I'll be waiting for your call."

* * *

"Just put gas in the damn thing!" Scott Summers yelled as he followed Logan out of the garage.

"Read the gas gauge, it's not hard." Logan retorted.

"I swear you two were having this same conversation last time I was here." Jess said as she adjusted the travel bag that hung from her shoulder.

"And we'll keep having it until he fills up the tank." Scott nodded, taking a minute to remember who the woman who stood before them was.

"Have you ever considered hiding your keys?" she asked. "Or not filling it up so he runs out of gas?" she laughed.

"I don't like those ideas." Logan eyed the woman before him. Medium height, rather mousy brown hair. She didn't look familiar to him. He assumed he'd met her at some point since she seemed to know them. Damned if he knew who the hell she was though.

"Neither did I when my parents did it to me when I kept taking their cars when I snuck out at night." she frowned. "Learned my lesson when I didn't pay attention to the gas gauge and was stranded in the middle of a cornfield at 3 am and they wouldn't come pick me up." she then shrugged and changed the subject. "Do you know where I can find Jean?" she asked, adjusting the bag again.

"Jess!" Jimmy's voice called out and he was like an excited puppy, unable to contain his excitement at seeing his sister, and rushed over and nearly knocked her over with a hug.

"Hey there." she replied as she struggled to breathe as he squeezed her.

"You might want to loosen your grip if you wanna continue having one of those." Logan suggested, remembering the boy's initial visit with a woman, his sister if he wasn't mistaken.

"Sorry." Jimmy said. "Dr. Grey said you were coming to visit."

"And you obviously are unhappy about that." Jess replied as she let air fill her lungs again.

"How long are you here for?" he asked as he took the bag from her shoulder and started to lead her inside. "Was your boss an ass about giving you the time off?"

"Take a breath, Jimmy." Jess laughed as she followed him inside. "Why didn't you tell me you were having trouble?" she asked quietly as they walked along to the room where she would be staying.

"I didn't want to seem like a baby." he shrugged.

"But you nearly tackling me in front of the school, that makes you seem cool to all of your little classmates?" she teased.

"I just didn't know how to tell you." he looked a bit ashamed.

"You can tell me anything." she reminded him. "Anything at all."

"Yeah, okay." he opened a door and dropped her bag on a large wood-framed bed. "This is it."

"So I see." she put her arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder and felt him loosen up a bit. She didn't know how long she would be staying, but she wanted to make sure he was comfortable while she was around. "Does this place get wi-fi?" she asked.

"Of course." he looked at her like she was some sort of idiot. "I've got class I need to get to, so I'll catch up with you later."

"Okay." she smiled as she watched him leave and then closed the door behind him. Moving to the bed, she dug her laptop out its bag and started it up. She wasn't about to tell Jimmy that she had quit her job and was planning on moving to the area. Not yet. She needed to make sure she would be able to find a place to live first. She just hoped she was able to adapt to her new surroundings better than her younger brother had been.


End file.
